They wouldn’t know each other long enough to progress that far.
And for the first time, his upcoming move overseas didn’t make her happy. It made her feel…restless. Itchy. She cleared her throat and forced a smile, covering his hand with hers. “As long as you can say it with your eyes, it works for me.”
He wrinkled his brow. “Like this?” He gave her a smoldering look that would rival Ian Somerhalder. Hot damn. “How’s that?”
Freaking breathtaking. But that wasn’t love that his eyes were screaming at her. No, they were saying, fuck me now. And she wanted to oh so badly.
“Keep staring at me like that and I’ll be sneaking you into the bathroom for a quickie.” She quickly lowered her eyes. “But that kind of look’s not what I meant. I was talking about the way you were watching me before. All warm, tender and sweet. As if you really cared about me.”
“Sweet and tender?” He blinked in confusion. “I didn’t realize I was looking at you that way. Maybe it was a trick of the lighting.”
Her pulse kicked up a notch. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” He shook his head slightly and dropped his hand, seeming to be as confused as she felt right now. He stepped back from her and dragged a hand through his hair. “I’ll try to recreate it, though.”
“All right. Here we go.”
He weaved his fingers through hers and led her inside. As soon as their feet crossed the threshold of the restaurant, her mother pounced on them with open arms. She must have been watching for their arrival. Buried in layers of red curly hair, and the familiar scent of Chanel perfume, her mother hugged Kayla tightly. She returned the embrace with the hand that wasn’t still entwined with Cooper’s.
For some reason, she didn’t want to let go of him yet. “Hi, Mom.”
“Sweetheart, we missed you at Christmas.” Pulling back, she gazed at Cooper over Kayla’s head, her mouth curved in a smile. “But now that I’ve met your infamous boyfriend, I can totally see why you stayed home. I would have, too.”
Kayla’s cheeks heated. Leave it to her mother to speak her mind without any censure. Very un-Southern of her. “Mom, this is Cooper Shillings. Cooper, my mother, Holly. I’m sure my dad will be along soon, too.”
“Mrs. Moriarity, I’m happy to finally get to meet you.” Cooper shook her hand. “I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.”
Her mom beamed up at him, holding his hand with both of hers. “And I’ve heard almost nothing about you.” She quickly cut her eyes at Kayla, but her warm expression was firmly in place when she returned her gaze to Cooper. “I’m so pleased to meet you and so happy you could clear time in your schedule to join Kayla. Will you be staying for the whole weekend and the wedding?”
After her mother released his hand, he replied, “I do believe so, yes. I report for my new job on Monday, but I’ll be here until then. Refresh my memory, what day is the wedding?”
“Saturday,” Kayla offered quickly. Then she smiled at her mom, her heart racing. Already they were running into issues. He should have known when the wedding was, if he was really her boyfriend. “I hadn’t told him since he wasn’t coming originally. Besides, you know how men are with weddings.”
“Right,” Cooper agreed, taking Kayla’s hand, his fingers flexing. “So, yes, I’ll be here for the wedding, as long as the last minute addition doesn’t cause any problems for you. I know you’ve been busy making everything perfect for this weekend. Kayla told me how hard you work to make everyone happy, and you always succeed.”
“Aw, well aren’t you sweet?” Her mom melted. Literally melted into a puddle. “Of course I don’t mind adding another person, dear. I’m thrilled to have you here.”
“Excellent,” he said, smiling.
“Come, let’s introduce you to everyone else.” Her mother met Cooper’s eyes and offered a sympathetic expression. “But first Kayla’s father is waiting to meet you, too. I apologize in advance.”
Cooper shot Kayla an unreadable look as Kayla’s mom headed across the room, towing a nervous looking Cooper behind her. “Should I be scared?” he whispered.
Kayla grimaced and nodded.
Her sister, Susan, rushed up to the group. Her brown hair was pulled back in an impeccable bun, and her blue eyes were latched on Cooper with surprise. “It’s true? You brought your boyfriend with you! I thought you made him up to get Mom off your back.”
“I’m right here,” her mom said, not even bothering to act offended.
“I know, but even you have to admit it was dodgy that she wouldn’t even tell us her boyfriend’s name.” She turned to Cooper. “Said she wanted everything about him to be a surprise for when we met him. Go figure.”
“Well, I uh,” Kayla fumbled, “I did.”
“I see that now. But I also know how Mom is about digging into our personal life.”
“Again, Susan. I’m right here,” her mom interjected. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with my desire to see my children happily married. It’s only natural. But now that we have Cooper—”
“Mom!” Kayla closed her eyes in mortification. Thank God this relationship wasn’t real, or this conversation would be even more awkward than it already was. “Stop it.”